Abhanga 3482
Only effort rooted deeply and offered honestly survives real testing; shallow effort and pretense are simply wasted.
The verse
खोल ओले पडे तें पीक उत्तम । उथळाचा श्रम वांयां जाय ॥१॥
लटिक्याचे आम्ही नव्हों सांटेकरी । थीतें घाली भरी पदरीचें ॥ध्रु.॥
कोणा इहलोकीं पाहिजे पसारा । दंभ पोट भरायाचे चाडे ॥२॥
तुका म्हणे कसीं अगी जें उतरे । तें चि येथें सरे जातिशुद्ध ॥३॥
Literal translation
Deep-moisture-best-pīka — shallow-vāyām. We-don't-exchange-falseness — put-on-real-from-padar. Who-in-iha-loka-wants-pasārā — dambha-belly-fillers. Tukā: what-kasī-agi-lets-pass — alone-succeeds-jāti-shuddha.
What it means
A 3-verse real-thing-survives-fire-test text. Deep moisture gives the best harvest; shallow effort is in-vain. We don't trade-in falseness; only the dambha-bellied want spread; what survives the assayer's fire — that alone passes here as jāti-shuddha. The kasī-agi (touchstone-fire) image is striking.
For someone today
Tukaram compares real spiritual effort to farming, saying that only ground soaked deeply produces a good harvest, while shallow effort is simply wasted. He refuses to deal in anything false, offering only what is genuinely his own rather than a borrowed show. He asks who in this world really needs fame and spread, since chasing that kind of display is really just pretense trying to fill an empty stomach. He ends with the image of gold tested by fire, only what survives that test can be called truly pure. It is a call to build depth rather than display, since only what is real can withstand real testing.
मराठी: तुकाराम खऱ्या साधनेची तुलना शेतीशी करतात, म्हणतात की खोलवर ओलावा असलेल्या जमिनीतच उत्तम पीक येते, तर उथळ प्रयत्न वाया जातो. ते खोटेपणाचा व्यापार करत नाहीत, स्वतःच्या पदरचे जे खरे आहे तेच ते देतात, उसनवारी दाखवत नाहीत. या जगात खरोखर पसाऱ्याची गरज कोणाला आहे, कारण अशी प्रसिद्धी मिळवणे हा केवळ पोट भरण्यासाठी केलेला दंभ असतो, असे ते विचारतात. शेवटी ते अग्नीत तपासलेल्या सोन्याची प्रतिमा वापरतात, जे या कसोटीतून उतरते तेच खरोखर शुद्ध ठरते. दिखाव्याऐवजी खोली निर्माण करण्याचे हे आवाहन आहे, कारण खरी कसोटी फक्त खरे तेच टिकवू शकते.
Where this applies
- When you are tempted to take shortcuts instead of doing the deep, patient work something requires
- When you catch yourself performing for approval instead of offering what is genuinely yours
- When you want fame or recognition and have to ask honestly whether it is just pretense
- When a hard test in life reveals whether your character or commitment was ever real